instructure/canvas-lms · error · GraphQL::ExecutionError

Unable to find CommentBankItem

Error message

Unable to find CommentBankItem

What it means

DeleteCommentBankItem#resolve looks up CommentBankItem.active.find_by(id:) and raises GraphQL::ExecutionError "Unable to find CommentBankItem" when no active record matches. The lookup is also ID-prepared via relay_or_legacy_id_prepare_func, so malformed ids fail the same way.

Solutions

1. Verify the id exists: CommentBankItem.active.find_by(id:) for the current user.
2. Refresh the comment bank list and delete only ids currently returned.
3. Ensure the id is the CommentBankItem's own relay/legacy id, not another node's.
4. Treat this error as idempotent success if the item was already deleted.

Example fix

// before
deleteCommentBankItem(input: { id: staleId })
// after
const item = user.commentBankItems.find(i => i.id === id)
if (item) deleteCommentBankItem(input: { id: item.id })

const item = me.commentBankItems?.nodes?.find(i => i._id === id)
if (!item) throw new SkipError('comment bank item missing')

function itemExists(items, id) { return (items || []).some(i => String(i._id ?? i.id) === String(id)); }

try {
  await deleteCommentBankItem({ id })
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes('Unable to find CommentBankItem')) {
    refetchCommentBank(); // already deleted or wrong id
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Deleting a comment bank item with an id that doesn't exist, was already soft-deleted, belongs to another user (items are per-user), or an id string the relay/legacy prepare function can't decode to a valid record.

Common situations: Two tabs open, item already deleted in the other; user sharing ids across accounts; stale cached comment library after item removal; passing global (relay) id of the wrong node type.

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• A course with that id does not exist
• ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
• Allocation rule not found
• An assignment with that id does not exist
• Assignment not found

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8c32b654b1c36d28. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at app/graphql/mutations/delete_comment_bank_item.rb:29

#
# Canvas is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more
# details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along
# with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#

class Mutations::DeleteCommentBankItem < Mutations::BaseMutation
  graphql_name "DeleteCommentBankItem"

  argument :id, ID, required: true, prepare: GraphQLHelpers.relay_or_legacy_id_prepare_func("CommentBankItem")
  field :comment_bank_item_id, ID, null: false

  def resolve(input:)
    record = CommentBankItem.active.find_by(id: input[:id])
    raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, I18n.t("Unable to find CommentBankItem") if record.nil?

    verify_authorized_action!(record, :delete)
    context[:deleted_models][:comment_bank_item] = record

    if record.destroy
      { comment_bank_item_id: record.id }
    else
      raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, I18n.t("Unable to delete CommentBankItem")
    end
  end

  def self.comment_bank_item_id_log_entry(_entry, context)
    context[:deleted_models][:comment_bank_item]
  end
end

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